Foreign Broadcast Information Service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) is an open source intelligence component of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology that monitors, translates, and disseminates within the US Government openly available news and information from non-US media sources. In November 2005, it was announced that FBIS would become part of the newly-formed Open Source Center, tasked with the collection and analysing of freely-available intelligence.
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[edit] History
FBIS was founded in 1941, six years before its parent agency. It started as part of the Federal Communications Commission and was tranferred to its present parent after World War II when the FCC discontinued or transferred its Radio Intelligence Division and other warttime functions.
[edit] Services
[edit] Customers
FBIS customers include highest-level policymakers, intelligence community analysts, and academics.
[edit] In the news
[edit] Saving FBIS from budget cuts
The Federation of American Scientists launched a successful campaign in 1997 to save FBIS from planned budget cuts.
[edit] The Larry Chin spy incident
Larry Wu-Tai Chin worked for FBIS from 1952 to 1981 and sold classified documents to China.
[edit] Similar outfits around the world
[edit] Australia: Office of National Assessments
Office of National Assessments.
Open Source Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
[edit] Britain: BBC Monitoring
[edit] China: Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency circulates for mid- and high-level internal consumption such publications as Reference Information (Cankao Ziliao), Internal Reference (Neibu Cankao), and "Redhead" Reference (Hongtou Cankao).
[edit] Norway
[edit] South Africa
[edit] Further reading
- ISBN 0-8069-8238-1 The Wizards of Langley by Jeffrey T. Richelson about the CIA Directorate of Science and Technology
- ISBN 1-57488-345-3 Silent Warfare by Abram N. Shulsky and Gary James Schmitt about basic concepts and issues involved in government intelligence
- The CIA and the US Intelligence System by Scott D. Breckinridge about the structure of the US intelligence community
- Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy by Mark M. Lowenthal about the role of intelligence in policymaking
- Sailing the Sea of OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) in the Information Age by Stephen C. Mercado. Studies in Intelligence, vol. 48, no. 3, 2004
- Reexamining the Distinction Between Open Information and Secrets by Stephen C. Mercado. Studies in Intelligence, vol. 49, no. 2, 2005
[edit] See also
- CIA: Central Intelligence Agency
- OSINT: Open source intelligence
[edit] References
- Fighting a War of Words
- PBS Frontline on four Chinese espionage investigations
- Australian Office of National Assessments
- Australian Government Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies
[edit] Specified references
- ^ Glasser, Susan B.. "Probing Galaxies of Data for Nuggets: FBIS Is Overhauled and Rolled Out to Mine the Web's Open-Source Information Lode", The Washington Post, November 25, 2005, pp. A35.
